VIKING SMS aka 'BUDSTIKKE'

The ‘Budstikka’ was an early ’Short Messaging System’ which was used in Norway and perhaps throughout Scandinavia from the time of the Vikings and up to the latter half of the 1800’s. It was a relatively effective and rapid way to spread important information.

The name ’Budstikke’ is composed of two words. First ’bud’, which in this particular context means ’bid’, as in the ’doing the kings bidding’. In other words, not just a message, but also a command from the King or other national or local authorities. The rest of the word ’stikke’ just means that it has a sharp point to allow it’s being anchored in wood somewhere. The budstikke in Photo 5 dates from the middle 1800’s, and an older one from 1610 in photo 6.

The message could be anything from the King calling up men to arms in time of war, to the local authorities commanding attendance at an important official gathering. The recipients were most often farmers. When the farmers were not at home the budstikke could be anchored in a door frame of their house or any other obvious place where it was sure to be seen on their return. The farmers were then responsible for forwarding the message to predetermined neighbors, and they could be punished for failing to do so. Punishment could be a fine, confiscation of property, imprisonment or even death depending on the importance of the message.

This budstikke was made for a good friend. Turned and handcarved from Linde wood. The design is my own, but true to principal. I doubt that none were alike, but they were all turned and hollowed out to contain a brief message which would stay dry, and some, although not all were topped off with the official looking crown design as on this one. Perhaps the crown was to signify it as a message from the King.

My carving was not very good as I have never been much of a woodcarver and even the turning is a little crude. This all works well as far as I’m concerned because these were never meant to be woodworking masterpieces, but rather an effective way to deliver important information. There would have been many dispensed at the same time, so pretty much mass produced items. I tried to make this one look rustic by first applying brown shoe polish, then some sanding and a final coat of beeswax/carnuba combo. My friend likes to make leather knife sheafs, so I thought he might like to keep his leather sewing needles in it.

I hope you found this little bit of Norwegian history and culture interesting. Thank you for having a look.

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41 comments so far

excellent mike, the piece itself and the history lesson were very much enjoyed, it must have been fun to make this for your friend, as i think the giving from the heart is what is the most important thing here, but i still like the carving very much….i send my best wishes and hope you and yours are doing ok…things have warmed up here quickly…having to run the ac every so often to fight the humidity….but the dust is flying….

Yes Grizz, it was fun to make. Our weather has been mostly wet, but we have had a few good days. They were used to clean out all the rain gutters, to wash the house, garage and garden shed and to do a bit of gardening. We had to power rake the lawn to get rid of all the moss, then we had to remove most of our ground cover evergreens, as the cold winter and a following freezing dry spell followed and killed most of them. We had to take 3 trailer loads to the recycling center. Pretty discouraging, especially for my wife who is the garden CEO. I’m not doing much now, as I woke up 3 days ago with vertigo and it hasn’t gone away yet. I can drive, and read, but I am walking like a drunken sailor on shore leave with the world spinning around me. I will be painting the house as soon as I get better. No fun in sight, sigh. Have fun in your shop!